Basket cover and fastener



Patented June 13, 1939 PATENT OFFlCE BASKET COVER AND FASTENER Willis W. Hargroves, Portsmouth, Va., assignor to Planters Manufacturing Company, Inc., Portsmouth, Va., a corporation of Virginia Application February 25, 1936, Serial No. 65,722

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in baskets, hampers or similar containers which are used in shipping and storing fruits, vegetables and the like, and more particularly to an improved cover and fastening means for securing the cover to the body portion of the container.

An object of the invention is to provide a crown cover for accommodating the bulge of the contents when packed in the basket wherein the cover is reinforced throughout so as to afford a rigid construction.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved fastening means for securing the cover to the basket.

A still further object of the invention is to provide improved fastening means wherein the fastener element on the cover is secured to the reinforced part thereof.

The above and other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will be hereinafter more fully disclosed.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the basket showing the improved cover and fastening means.

Fig. 2 is a side view in section taken along the line 2--2 of Fig. 1. i

Fig. 3 is a detail view in perspective showing one of the fastener elements on the cover.

Fig. 4 is a detail side elevation showing the cooperating fastener elements.

Ordinarily when baskets are packed for ship ping, the contents are piled above the top of the basket so that it is necessary to employ a cover which will accommodate this bulge of the contents. For this purpose, it has been proposed to employ covers which will bend or flex to a concave form but, in covers of this type, severe strain is placed thereon and particularly on the fasten-' ing means and around the edge of the cover where the cover slats are secured to the rim. It frequently happens that the slats, in covers of this type, pull away from the rim so that the cover must be discarded in order to prevent resulting damage to the contents. Similarly, this severe strain in the flexing of the cover often mutilates the fastening means so that the cover is not properly held on the basket. The present invention relates generally to a cover which is inherently concave to accommodate the bulge of the contents in the basket and which is reinforced so that it will afford a rigid construction. The reinforcing means for the cover also affords a support or anchorage for the fastener elements on the cover. For purposes of illustration, the improved cover and fastening means are shown on a bushel basket it) which is constructed in the usual manner and which comprises a number of staves H which are secured together by a bottom hoop l2, a central reinforcing hoop l3 and a pair of inner and outer top hoops I4, I5 respectively. At diametrically opposed points on the basket, there are provided handle members, each of which includes a U-shaped wire member It, the leg portions [5a of which extend through the reinforcing hoops l4, l5 and are bent over the top edge of the basket and clinched on the outside of the outer hoop I5, as at [1. Intermediate the handle members I 6 and diametrically opposed to one another, are a pair of fastener elements Ill, the leg portions i8a of which extend through the hoops l4, l5 and are clinched, as at IS on the inside of the inner hoop I4.

The cover 2|] includes a rim 2| and a plurality of cross slats 22 which are bowed upwardly and whose ends are secured by staples 23 to the rim 2|. Substantially semi-circular reinforcing battens 24 are secured over the ends of the cross slats 22 and to the rim 2! by the staples 23. The reinforcing battens 24 are also secured to the individual cross slats 22 by staples 26. The cover is provided with a handle slat 2! which is secured to the individual cross slats 22 by staples 29 and to the rim 2| by staples 30. The ends 28 of the slat 21 extend beyond the rim 2| so that they will extend. through the handle members I6 when the cover is placed on the basket.

The cover is provided with a pair of fastening elements 3! which are symmetrically spaced with respect to the fastening elements I! on the basket i0 so as to cooperate therewith when the cover is to be secured in position. Each of the fastener elements 3| consists of a substantially U-shaped wire member having the leg portions 32 thereof extending through a pair of cross slats and the reinforcing batten 24 and clinched as at 33 on the upper face of the said batten 24. The leg portions 32 are imbedd-ed in the underface of the pair of cross slats 22 and extend outwardly between the said cross slats and the rim 2| to a point beyond the edge of the basket.

In making the basket cover 20, a mat is formed in the usual manner and cut to the desired shape. This mat consists of the cover slats 22 and the reinforcing battens 24 which are secured over 50 the ends thereof by staples 26 and the-handle slat 2'! which is likewise secured to the mat of cross slats by staples 29. When the cover has reached this stage in its formation, that is, before it has been bowed upwardly and secured to 55 the rim, the fastener elements 3| are secured thereto. By securing the fastener elements to the cover at this stage, the distance to which the free ends thereof extend beyond the edge of the mat can be exactly located with respect thereto so that they will project a fixed and uniform distance outwardly beyond the edge of the cover. The fastener elements 3| are passed through an adjacent pair of cover slats 22 and through the cross battens 24 and clinched, as at 33, on the top thereof. Heretofore, it has often occurred that the space provided between the edge of the cover and the closed end of one of the fastener elements became completely closed so that it was impossible to pass the cooperating fastener element on the basket body between the cover and the closed end of the cover fastener element so as to lock the cover into fastening position. The securing of the fastener elements 3| to the cover mat before the rim is secured thereto makes is possible to exactly locate the closed ends of the said fastener elements a fixed distance beyond the edge of the cover, thus obviating the danger of having the opening between the edge of the cover and the free end of one of the fastener elements closed. After the fastener elements 3| have been thus secured, the mat is bowed upwardly to form a concave cover and then the edges thereof are secured to the rim 2| by the staples 23. Some of the staples 23, it is to be noted, extend through the ends of the cover slat 22 and through the reinforcing battens 24. The leg portions 32 of the fastener elements 3| become imbedded in the adjacent pair of cross slats and are disposed between the said slats in the rim 2|. The fastener elements 3| are thus greatly strengthened because of their clamped position between the rim and the cover. The clinching of the fastener elements 3| through a pair of cross slats and over the top of the reinforcing battens 24 serves as an additional means for securing the battens and cross slats together in order to strengthen the cover. The reinforcing battens 24 and the handle slat 21 also serve to strengthen the cover and maintain it in a concave form so as to afford a substantially rigid construction.

When the basket has been filled, the cover is placed thereon with the ends 28 of the handle slat 21 extending through the handle members I6. In this position the fastener elements i8 and 3| will be aligned so that the leg portions |8a of the fastening element on the basket extend between the leg portions 32 of the fastening element on the cover, as shown in Fig. 4. In this position, the leg portions |8a of the fasteners I8 are bent downwardly over the closed end of the fastener elements 3| so as to securely interlock the elements to prevent the cover from being moved.

From the foregoing description, it will be obvious that a durable rigid crown cover is afforded and that the manner in which the fastener elements are secured on the cover greatly strengthens the same and permits their being properly located so as to extend a uniform distance beyond the edge of the cover.

It is to be clearly understood that minor changes in the construction and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A cover for a basket comprising a rim, a mat portion secured to said rim, and fastener elements having the inner ends thereof secured to said mat portion within the rim and extending outwardly between said mat portion and said rim, the free ends of said fastener elements extending beyond said rim and adapted to cooperate with the fastening means on the basket body.

2. A cover for a basket comprising a rim, a plurality of cross slats having the ends thereof secured to said rim, a pair of reinforcing slats extending across the ends of said cross slats and secured thereto and to said rim, and fastener elements secured to a pair of said cross slats and to said reinforcing slats and extending outwardly between said rim and the said pair of cross slats, the ends of said fastener elements extending beyond said rim and adapted to cooperate with fastening means on the basket body.

3. A cover for a basket comprising a rim, a plurality of cross slats having the ends thereof secured to said rim, a pair of reinforcing slats extending across the ends of said cross slats and secured thereto and to said rim, and U-shaped fastener elements having the leg portions thereof passing through adjacent cross slats and through said reinforcing slats and extending outwardly between said adjacent cross slats and said rim, the closed ends of said fastener elements extending beyond said rim and adapted to cooperate with fastening means on the basket body.

4. A rigid crown cover for a basket comprising a rim, a plurality of cross slats having the ends thereof secured to said rim, a pair of reinforcing slats extending across the ends of said cross slats and secured thereto and to said rim, and a pair of fastener elements each including a U-shaped wire member, each leg portion of each of said fastener elements being imbedded in adjacent cross slats and disposed between the said cross slats and said rim and having the end thereof extending through a cross slat and said reinforcing slat and clinched over the said reinforcing slat, the closed end of each of said fastener elements extending beyond said rim and adapted to cooperate with fastening means on the basket body.

WILLIS W. HARGROVES. 

